This one falls into that darker corner of gay cinema. There was real potential buried in here, but the execution feels so flat that at points it plays out more like a filmed stage play than an actual movie. It's a dark psychological drama built around a street hustler confessing to a brutal, confusing murder of his own lover. Black and white flashback sequences do a solid job laying out the details of what happened, but the real focus stays on the dialogue and the writing itself. Right at the start, a young hustler has already killed his male lover Claude. Three days go by before he calls the police to turn himself in for the murder. But instead of just reporting it somewhere ordinary, he actually summons the police and the local press directly into a judge's private chambers. Yves has keys to the place, which tracks given what he does for a living, but having the press waiting right outside makes the whole scene look like some elaborate blackmail scheme against the judge. The ...
This film definitely was novel in its theme and treatment of it. I have seen many LGBT films (although primarily gay) but still haven't seen anything similar to what is shown here. It was a very touching drama about a post-op male to female transsexual and a former male schoolfriend. Karl Foyle and Paul Prentice were best mates at school in the Seventies. But when they meet again in present-day London things are definitely not the same. Karl is now Kim, a transsexual, and she has no desire to stir up the past while she's busy forging a neat and orderly new life. Prentice, on the other hand, has charm but is a social disaster stuck in a dead-end job. His main talent is for getting them both into trouble. Amid the squabbles, they start to fall in love. One night, Kim invites Prentice to a romantic dinner at her flat. Prentice, finding the seduction unexpectedly effective, freaks out. He proceeds to make a public display of both of them and winds up in court. Humiliated and angry, Kim runs away. Prentice begs Kim to save her. Ultimate;y love wins and he is rescued. To get his life in order, they decide to sell Kim's story to a newspaper and start a fresh life together as a couple.
OMG! The lead character who played Kim was awesome. You have to give it to the dude was portraying such a difficult role with elan. The movie essentially chronicles the emotional journey of this odd-couple; and it's done with the proper mix of humor and drama. Even Prentice as a rookie guy who doesn't know what to do with life trying to understand what and why Kim did what she did is interesting.
Definitely worth a watch. I can bet you haven't seen something like this before (6/10)
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